LOS ANGELES — Al Pacino says he got burned while making “Scarface.”
Literally, he grabbed the hot barrel of a gun that had just shot 30 rounds during one of Tony Montana’s violent scenes.
“My hand stuck to that sucker,” the 71-year-old actor recalled. He couldn’t work for two weeks.
Pacino relayed the experience during a discussion with “Scarface” co-stars Steven Bauer, Robert Loggia and F. Murray Abraham and producer Martin Bregman at a party Tuesday heralding the film’s Blu-ray release.
Part of the charm of the film, Pacino said, is that it wasn’t initially a hit.

LONDON — Amy Winehouse had no illegal drugs in her system when she died, and it is still unclear what killed the singer, her family said Tuesday.
The family said in a statement that toxicology tests showed “alcohol was present” in the singer’s body but it hasn’t yet been determined if it contributed to her death.
The 27-year-old soul diva, who had battled drug and alcohol addiction for years, was found dead in her London home on July 23, and an initial post-mortem failed to determine the cause of death.

LOS ANGELES — “The Help” continues to clean up at the box office, taking over the No. 1 spot with $20.5 million in its second weekend.
The DreamWorks Pictures film starring Viola Davis, Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer in a drama about Southern black maids had debuted in second-place a week earlier. “The Help” raised its domestic total to $71.8 million and bumped 20th Century Fox’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” which slipped to No. 2 with $16.3 million after two weekends at the top, according to studio estimates Sunday.
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” remains a solid hit, lifting its domestic total to $133.8 million.

BANGOR, Maine — Stephen King is offering an antidote to what he sees as the biases of right-wing radio talk shows by hiring a former Green Party vice presidential candidate to co-host a morning talk show on two stations he owns.
In a rare public appearance, the horror writer held a news conference Tuesday in Bangor, Maine, at the headquarters of his three-station Zone Radio network.
“The Pulse Morning Show” will be co-hosted by 50-year-old Pat LaMarche and 43-year-old Don Cookson, a former television reporter. LaMarche ran for vice president as a member of the Green Party in 2004.

ALBUQUERQUE — For more than five decades, the spirit behind the Santa Fe Opera has stemmed from a commitment to commissioning new works and presenting rare productions that had never been seen or heard in the United States.
Now, with its international reputation and location in the shadow of northern New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the opera continues to make good on its commitment with two new commissions and an American premiere despite the ongoing economic stranglehold that has brought some of the arts community to its knees.
General director Charles MacKay says that means visitors to the outdoor venue will be treated to new performances for at least the next four years.

During the two years (2006-2008) that the exhibit, “Spider Woman’s (Na ashje’ii ‘Asdzáá) Gift: Navajo Weaving Traditions” was at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, there were numerous requests for a catalogue.
“Spider Woman’s Gift: Nineteenth Century Diné Textiles” is a response to that interest. Images from the exhibit’s classical Navajo (Diné) weavings illustrate illuminating essays by Joyce Begay-Foss and Marian E. Rodee.

A free family fishing clinic at Fenton Lake is being offered by Pajarito Environmental Education Center, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish fishing skills instructor Ti Piper will teach the clinic. Fishing gear will be provided for those who have never fished or want to try a new type of fishing.
Participants 12 and older will need to have a fishing license, and the vehicle entry fee to Fenton Lake is $5.
The fishing clinic is geared toward all skill levels — from beginner to experienced — and will teach different kinds of fishing — bait, lure and fly. At noon there will be special fly-casting lessons.

As a celebration of creativity that crosses boundaries, and in conjunction with the Next Big Idea festival, Mesa Public Library will show Jack Ox’s intermedia painting in the Upstairs Art Gallery. A public reception will be from 4-5:45 p.m. Sept. 17.
In today’s fluid world, definitions, perceptions and forms of expression are blurring: what is art, what is science, what is music? Or, can they intermingle, creating new forms? Ox has done just that with her vast, segmented painting, a visualization of a musical work by Kurt Schwitters, a groundbreaking artist who worked in multimedia in the 1930s. He is generally acknowledged as the 20th century’s greatest master of collage and installation art.

Casual observers and avid bird watchers might find Pajarito Environmental Education Center’s Birdscape Tour interesting. The event will be from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept. 10
The tour will give bird enthusiasts an opportunity to see how four Los Alamos residents design their yards to attract wild birds and learn their secrets, which is sure to give them take home ideas for attracting birds to their yards.
Beside the simple enjoyment that watching birds provides, attracting avian friends has other benefits. Many birds eat a variety of insects that are considered pests, including mosquitoes, aphids and bark beetles. Hummingbirds and other species are important pollinators as they go from flower to flower, sipping nectar.